Complex Relationship Ch. 01.3

Note: This story will follow several characters for a while but gradually phase out to follow one story from the male's point of view. At first these stories are not going to be filled with sex. This first chapter is more about establishing my main four characters over the course of the same day. Later chapters will get more sexually intensive, with the back-story of the four characters I establish here weaving in there as well.

Also thanks luvtaread for the editing.

Chapter 1, Part 3: Mel

Mel was furious and as she felt Katy huddle against her for comfort she did her best to reassure her frightened lover. It was rather ironic, if someone had told her at the beginning of this trip she of all people would have defended a man over a woman in a situation she would have said they were crazy, yet that was the case.

She was furious at the tall brunette woman she had come to trust as a friend, for helping cast adrift a man she had very begrudgingly come to respect. She usually hated men on principal, but for some reason this one was quite different. Now he had been left knocked out in a small lifeboat as a storm began to hit, by the traitor. Mel looked down and saw Katy praying. She smiled and in trying to think of a way out of this dwelled on just how she had arrived here...

Melissa Murphy, or Mel as she insisted people call her, had had a similar trip to Katy's. This was mostly due to the fact that like her friend she was on this trip to take part in the wedding. The similarities between the two of them stopped there. While Katy had been raised as daddy's little sheltered princess, Mel had received a much more difficult upbringing. Mel's family had been poor and virtually everything she now owned was acquired through her own hard work.

Mel's difficulties truly started before she was born when her irresponsible father forgot a condom one night and Mel was the result. Since her mother was from a very traditional Irish Catholic family, Mel's parents were forced to keep her and marry. To say her father disliked this mandate was an understatement, he was furious about it and often took it out on Mel's mom, and eventually Mel. She stood the abuse to herself and her mom only long enough to find a way out and to stand up to him.

At the age of thirteen when her peers were looking forward to high school, Mel was finding a way to keep herself and her mom away from her abusive dad. Lucky for her one of her neighbors put her in touch with a local businesswoman looking for reliable part-time help.

Mel proved much more than reliable help and after showing herself quite capable in the business became a young protégé to the woman. Under the teachings of her new mentor Mel learned the ropes of business that would later become her passion. Best of all, the woman also took Mel and her mother under her protection and helped them get on their feet after leaving her father.

Mel continued to work under her mentor until she graduated high school and enrolled in Harvard Business School, with a strong recommendation from her mentor, who was an alum. It was at Harvard she met a bubbly little blonde named Katy and despite their very different backgrounds the two became friends after being paired up for a class project.

However, it was Mel's rescue of her drunk friend from gang rape at a rather rowdy party one night that solidified there friendship. The save had permanently solidified Katy's loyalty to the strong red-head. The friendship grew and as it did, both girls luck with the opposite sex got worse. Mel had little respect for men after what her father had done, and found many of them were too intimated by her ambition.

Katy had plenty of luck attracting willing partners, but was far too trusting and found her heart broken often and each time she turned to Mel for comfort. Not only that, but her father's high standards made it nearly impossible to find a man he would approve of. Eventually the two grew closer together through their troubles and their friendship turned into love. A love they eventually were able to express physically as well as emotionally.

Her new love with Katy presented its own issues though, primarily Katy's father. Both women knew there was no way he would let them have their relationship. Lucky for them Mel had setup a business of her own to help support herself and her mom while she went to school. Knowing that many would not accept her as the head of the business she had paid a man to be her front man.

Using her reputation and the front man she and Katy were able to convince Mr. Hemmings that the Mel Murphy his daughter was marrying was a male Harvard MBA graduate with an already booming small business to HIS credit. So she, Katy, her front man, and her hired date had boarded the cruise that was supposed to be Katy's wedding cruise, which it would be, only Katy was marrying a 5'6" red-head named Melissa.

All had gone according to plan as Mel arranged for her date, Ralph, to meet up with Katy, to give the blonde a bit of hetero release before their day the next evening. She did not see much threat in the man, and part of the reason he had been hired was for this purpose.

Worst case she figured the man would fuck her and pass out leaving Katy in peace the rest of the night. Unlike Mel, Katy liked to have an occasional fling with a man or two and Mel figured it was best to let her release her heterosexual yearnings tonight before their private time in the suite tomorrow night. So she left her friend to go ashore and see some of the sites.

Unlike most of the wedding party she was little interested in the beaches and more enthralled with the historic sites on the island. While business was her passion, history was her guilty pleasure. She loved to visit obscure historical sights no matter how trivial. She and her trusty camera went to as many as she could get to. This island turned out to be a virtual smorgasbord of obscure buildings and sights.

As she made her way around the island she noticed that there were a few nuts like her. In particular were a young woman, a man that seemed to be her possessive dad, and a tall young man. Mel observed these three as she moved through the various sights, but it was not until the final building, a magnificent church with rather impressive glass work for a small island, that she had any real interaction with them.

As she entered the church she reflected on what she had noticed of the three she had been observing. The first was that the girl was very beautiful. She had a flawless and kind face, the highlight of which was her stunning dark blue eyes. Her brown hair reached her shoulder blades and she was simply attired in a tank top and shorts. The tank top was a bit too small in Mel's opinion, but it showed her breasts and stomach well. Her breasts were about a B cup in Mel's estimate, and the stomach was flat. Mel could not be sure but judging from the rest of her body she guessed in was not a toned flat, it was more likely the product of a high metabolism.

Mel had spent enough time in gyms, working out being a favorite stress relief for her, to identify the ones who worked for their body and those, like this girl, that did not need to. The shorts echoed her suspicions as the ass and long thin legs, while fabulous in there own right, were definitely free of muscle tone. This girl was something else and in overhearing her speak a few times Mel was reminded of a southern beauty contestant. In fact this girl was the definition of a southern beauty- laid back, soft spoken, and moving gracefully with little effort.

Somewhere along the line she realized that she was not the only one admiring the beauty. She began to realize that the tall young man also had been admiring the southerner from a distance. She could tell he was enthralled with the woman because he had, for the most part, failed to notice that a stunningly beautiful redhead had been following him all day as well. He was interested in the sights alright, judging from the pictures he would take of the buildings and the long looks he took at certain structures, but his gaze never was far from the southern beauty. Mel was not sure whether she found it cute or creepy.

She had also noted the behavior of the old man. His overbearing nature and possessiveness toward his young companion greatly upset Mel. In fact, it looked as if he had been keeping the girl from taking pictures of the sites Mel had seen her admire all day. In her own silent revenge, Mel had helped the girl by using her own camera to capture pictures of the windows and if she could manage it, the girl with them.

As they entered the church Mel saw why the overbearing man had allowed his companion to travel this far away from the beaches where he could ogle the scantily clad young girls. She was sure he was here to ogle, unlike the quiet tall man, the older man had definitely noticed her presence and been ogling her every choice he got, quite openly.

It seemed the man had business here and when she saw with whom, she immediately sprung into action. She tried to do several things at once and ended up walking right into the side of the back pew. This caused her to topple into the pew and land on the bench very unladylike; on her back with arms and legs sprawled. It also caused the camera bag she had had open and slung over here shoulder to hit the floor and scatter its contents.

What had caused the sudden reaction was two things. First was that the man was meeting with Katy's brother's friend Dale, and anytime she could avoid contact with those idiots was time well spent in her mind. The other was that the southern girl had taken to the flirtations of Dale's friends and for some reason she sought to distract the tall man before he spotted this. She was still not sure why, but there was something about him that made her almost feel sorry for him in that moment.

Ironically she succeeded in both her goals, or at least it seemed she had, as the men had not noticed her and the young man ahead of her had rushed back to her position to try to help. She was just able to sit up in a better position before he arrived and she quickly refused his offer of help getting up.

As the expected laughter rang out from the front and her cheeks flushed with anger at the frat boys. In her anger, she made it clear she wanted no help. The man helped her anyway silently gathering her equipment and placing it in the bag as he handed it back he made some comment about the number of memory cards she had in it.

Already having her fill of shallow men she responded with anger. She was pleasantly surprised at his response and realizing her mistake, smiled apologetically. It was then that she saw him get a good look at her, she saw the eyes widen and his attempt at subtlety in checking her out. She thought about chiding him for it, but decided he was harmless and realized that even if he hadn't seen what was going on up front, he probably heard it and now was likely suffering disappointment because the girl he had been admiring all day was now basking in the attention of Dale's asshole friends.

She did not often feel pity for the opposite sex, but she felt a bit for him now and decided not to add to the bruised ego he had just suffered by barking at him for trying to be nice and one innocent quick glance at a pretty girl.

Instead she decided to see if her impressions of the man were correct, that he had really come for the history, and not the southern girl. She was encouraged to find that he had been to many of the same spots she had and knew quite a lot about them as well. She had a pleasant time walking and talking with him, both snapping the occasional picture.

He began to inquire into her schooling and when she told him about the MBA she was surprised to see that that got her another glance and a bit more flirtatious activity from him. This was the last thing she had been expecting, it seemed that learning she was accomplished intellectually increased his desire for her. Usually when she brought up the MBA to men it had the opposite effect.

This reaction put her in a pickle as she had little interest in a traditional relationship with this man and he seemed to now be viewing her that way. She would not mind him as a friend in small doses, but nothing more than that. She tried to think of a way to let him down carefully, a thought that caused her to marvel a bit, as since when did a man's feelings matter to her?

'When they are intelligent, respectful, and open minded like this one,' she thought to herself. She reached out with her left hand into a stream of light from one of the windows to point out a feature at the front of the church.

As she did, the need to let him down carefully, faded, as his flirtatious manner stopped abruptly and he began suddenly trying to make his way to the exit of the church. Mel was baffled, why the sudden change? She had reached out to show the window up front; was it Dale and his friends? No, couldn't be they were off to the side she had specifically picked now to mention that spot because they had moved.

As he left her to exit the church she reran the action in her mind, she raised her left hand and... it hit her seeing the light next to her she looked down, the engagement ring, she had worn it to make sure she was not bothered. It was an old trick she had learned in college. The ring would repel those respectful enough not to hit on an engaged woman, and those that ignored it were definitely not her type anyway, so it worked pretty well.

Well it had done its work again she cursed herself for being so careless. Right as he had expressed interest what had she done? Accidentally, but seemingly deliberately, flashed her engagement ring. Sending out an unintentional silent 'Sorry buddy taken' and he of course was one of those respectful enough to let it go at that.

She of course was taken and not interested, but both had to do with a pretty blonde named Katy. She ran after him trying to think of a way to make it up to him. She left on the pretext of trying to escape the ruckus that Dale and company were starting to cause up front. She tried to talk to him quickly but he seemed hell bent on leaving and after getting two shots to the ego she really did not blame him.

It was just then that chance favored her, as low and behold who should step out of the church and lean against the wall near the door, but the pretty brunette. She thought about coaxing the girl to take a picture with her new friend, but thought better of the open set up. They had both bruised his ego enough today.

Instead she offered to take his picture with his camera in front of the building, he accepted and Mel made sure that the church was not the only thing in the shot he would admire. She made sure that the lovely lady was very visible in the background. Then for fairness she had him take a few of her in front of the church.

As she posed she got another great idea and recruited the idle girl, who she found out later was named Ashley, to take a few pictures of her and her male friend. Ashley agreed and after a few quick pictures the man thanked both women and scurried off as the frat boys began to exit the church.

She cursed their bad timing and let the poor man go. If there had been more time she might have been able to help clear some misconceptions between the two. She had not missed the looks the tall man had gotten from Ashley while Mel had taken his picture. As the boys passed they made a few rude comments about tonight to Ashley. Mel had bent down to fix her camera bag and almost none of them noticed or recognized her. She saw Ashley quietly walk back into the church, and on the pretense of needing more shots inside, Mel followed her in.

Ashley was immediately and rather forcefully shown out by the old man. Mel quickly took a few additional shots in the church before following them out. She made her way down a safe distance behind and as they approached the boat launch to get back to the ship she was pleased to see that Ashley had stopped in the restrooms while he old man got in line. Following Ashley into the ladies room she waited at the mirror for the brunette.

"The tall quiet guy, the one I had you take my picture with, he liked you." Mel said to Ashley repeating her earlier statement. Ashley stepped next to Mel and seemed to ponder this statement for a second.

"Really? I thought he was kind of cute, but why should he notice little ole me?" She said with such an adorable southern twang and perfect pose that Mel looked at her for a beat and felt her panties dampen at the sight.

'This girl is too good to be true," Mel thought in the next beat said in an incredulous voice, "Ashley, who wouldn't notice you? I know several girls that would literally kill for a body like yours, you want names?"

For effect she heard several 'me too's' from other women in the bathroom and saw a few nod in response. Then she said, "But that boy was not just admiring a nice body I think he was in love."

"What makes you say that?"

"For one thing, not to sound vain, but he hardly glanced at me the whole time and I am not exactly an ugly girl over here. No, he was stuck on you."

"Really? Wow, I just thought he really liked history and stuff." Man this girl had self-esteem issues if she could not believe that a man would follow her smoking hot body across an island. No wonder she had fallen for the tricks and flattery of the frat boys.

"Well he was doing that, believe me he knew his stuff I got to chat with him in that church, but make no mistake up until you met with the frat boys he was stuck on you and even after, when you came out of that church it was you, not me that caused him to stay around a bit." Mel said trying to make a case for the tall man whose name she could not even remember. It was a strange feeling sticking up for a man and Mel was still not sure why she was doing it either.

"Why didn't he try to talk to me then?" Ashley asked breaking Mel out of her thoughts.

"For one he seems the shy type, plus that old man hanging like on you like a vulture gave him no opportunity, and accepting the flattery of a bunch of mindless frat boys will turn a guy like that off in a second. Guys like him unfortunately lose to idiots like those all the time. I got one question though, if you found him cute why didn't you express more interest?"

"Well he was with you."

"Nope, I am not accepting that, try again, if he was with me we would have been chatting the whole way and holding hands and stuff, so what's the real reason?"

"My step-father says women should not approach a..." It was as Mel figured, but it did not stop her from losing it a bit.

"Well he is wrong, this is the 21st century and you're a big girl, if you want something, go and get it. You don't need your daddy's permission."

"He's not my dad, only my step-father."

"All the more reason to ignore him. Speaking of which," Mel reached into her camera bag and handed a bewildered Ashley a memory card. Then she said, "I got a few shots of you near your favorite spots and I even got a few shots with you in them. Take this card to the photo hut in the main concourse and have a set of prints made. Charge it to the Hemmings wedding party and select the ones you want then have the rest of the prints and the card sent to my room they should know where I am the room numbers attached to the account."

"Really? Thanks!" Then after a beat she said, "Wait a minute, Hemmings wedding? I think I will be helping out with the bachelor party for that wedding tonight."

Mel now had confirmed what Dale had paid the old man for and felt very sorry for the girl as her 'step-father' had just hired her out as a whore/stripper for the rowdy party tonight.